April 4, NHL.com: "Well, the way I look at it is this,'' Babcock explained, "no one talks about us. They only talk about (second-seeded) San Jose and (fourth-seeded) Anaheim in the West. So, to me, we're just sliding in there unnoticed so we'll do the best we possibly can.''

Now there's an interesting twist. Read between the lines, however, and you'll find a coach playing the gamesmanship card to perfection. Let's face it -- there aren't many flaws to unravel when discussion turns to the Red Wings. The team finished with more than 100 points for the eighth-straight season, tying an NHL record held by the Montreal Canadiens (1974-1982), and has qualified for the playoffs for the 17th straight season, the longest current streak in pro sports

"It's absolutely phenomenal,'' Babcock said of Detroit's consecutive playoff appearances. "In the hallway leading to our dressing room, you have all the years displayed since the Ilitch family took over (in 1982). There were some tough ones when they first started, but it has been great ever since. I think what's most impressive is the ownership and their passion for success.

"We've got a real good hockey club here, starting with (owners) Mike and Mary Ilitch, down through (General Manager) Kenny Holland and throughout our team with guys like (Nicklas) Lidstrom, (Henrik) Zetterberg, (Pavel) Datsyuk, (Kris) Draper and (Chris) Chelios. To me, the quality leadership here is what allows us to be successful.''

The 44-year-old head coach isn't too shabby either. Babcock this season became the first coach in league history to win 50 or more games in his first three seasons with an NHL team. He also garnered the Presidents' Trophy in his first season in Hockeytown in 2005-06.

As far as Detroit's match-up with Chicago is concerned, NHL.com offers up a short teaser video that doesn't have too much substance behind it, but that's offset by oodles of analysis by former NHL defenceman and current St. Louis Blues assistant coach Brad Shaw (he once coached the IHL's Detroit Vipers, too), as told to NHL.com's John McGourty:

April 4, NHL.com: Red Wings offense: The Red Wings have two players who have more than 90 points this season -- Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. Chicago, on the other hand, doesn't have a guy with more than 70 points going into the weekend. Detroit is the only team that can throw two 90-point guys at you. It's also the best puck-support team in the Western Conference -- and maybe in the entire NHL.

The Red Wings play from a structure, but the way they support each other and ad lib make them hard to cover. Yet they're predictable to one another. That's a huge advantage. The Red Wings also spend a lot of time in the offensive zone. They wear you down as much as any team in the League. With a lot of zone time, they get a lot of chances and you get tired. They also get a lot of power plays because you take penalties when you are tired. That's one of the big benefits of how they support each other.

Shaw makes some surprising observations about the tactical advantages provided by the Wings' home barn:

The Red Wings are a very hard team to outsmart. Joe Louis Arena has some of the fastest boards in the League and they use it to their advantage because they have a lot of guys with long tenure. The quickness of the boards is an asset if you can predict the bounces.

They will miss the net with shots on purpose -- with Lidstrom, Chelios and Rafalski, it's the short side -- because they know it's rebounding to the front of net and you don't know quite where. They're just a step ahead. The Joe also has very shallow corners but they have no problem creating space for themselves. It's a unique rink that way.

Shaw also makes what are perhaps the best quantifiable observations of how the Wings' system of having forwards "track" the opposition's attacking players to the outside on the backcheck:

The Red Wings really have a lot of defensemen who can skate and move the puck and they track back into their own zone as well as anybody. Detroit goes back deeper in their zone than most teams and it gives it a shorter first pass and it's a little further from the opposition. It also gives the defense more skating room initially and it takes advantage because its forwards are lower. Then, the defense joins the rush a lot more regularly than some teams.

Something to look for is when Detroit's defenseman step up into the neutral zone and make opponents move the puck sooner than they would like. They end up not getting the offense they were looking for and the transition sets up the Red Wings' offense. The Red Wings' defensemen skate so well without the puck. They make good reads and they have innate skills.

The rest of Shaw's analysis is a good read, but I have to disagree with the concept that Chris Osgood and Dominik Hasek are "athletic" but have "no prescribed style." Osgood's evolved into a tremendous hybrid goalie who has strong butterfly tendencies, and while Hasek's fundamentals may not make sense to the average person, he does rely upon his "toolbox" very regularly.